Untitled
by SweetMusicAng3l
Summary: **This is a redemption story arc for Keira. Please keep all comments focused on the writing and/or story; hate directed towards any characters will be deleted.** A direct continuation from Jak 3, focused on Keira dealing with her feelings towards Ashelin and Jak.
1. Chapter 1

Keira looked up at the great precursor ship blasting off into the cosmos above her. The sun glared off the bright, sapphire blue convex windows popping out of the beige rocket. The sea in front of her twinkled, and the waves lightly crashed onto the shore below from the force of the space ship's propulsion. The cool Spargus wind whipped through her turquoise hair, and the sea salt on the breeze caressed her pale skin. She rose a hand to shelter her eyes from the harsh rays of the sun.

Keira breathed in deeply. It was a perfect day, weather wise anyways, and yet… her heart felt anything but peaceful. It felt as wild as the gale that was coursing through the inlet, and the water beating the rocks below. Her heart felt like it was pumping faster than it ever had before, and simultaneously like it was empty; hollowed out, like her blood was swirling against a metal cage stored in the cavity of her chest. It was a weird way to describe it, but the absence of Jak just made her feel like _everything_ inside of her had been emptied when he had walked on to that space ship, to fulfill his destiny as the heir of Mar…

He didn't even look back.

Her blood ran cold from distress and hot from the anger of him abandoning her. She knew it was selfish of her to want him to stay, and yet she couldn't stop herself from blaming him from choosing his destiny over his friends and families. Even _Daxter_ seemed at peace with him leaving – but maybe with Tess to keep him company, that was a lot easier for him. Of course she always had her father, but things just wouldn't be the same with Jak gone, _again_. And who knows when he would come back…if ever.

She was in the midst of trying to come to terms with what had happened, because she hadn't realized that Jak would leave so… suddenly. She didn't even have a chance to say goodbye.

She shook her head, and breathed in deeply for a few seconds, and then exhaled. Her head wasn't clear, and it was clouded by her emotions. She had just gotten Jak back from the Baron, only to lose him to the wasteland, only to find him again in Haven, just to lose him one last time to some orange fuzzy aliens who were really the creators of the universe. It was… it was _more_ than a lot to take in. She began chuckling to herself, realizing how ridiculous the whole thing was and that it's not something she could actually come to peace with in a few moments.

Wiping a tear that had formed in her eye, she looked up at the space ship one last time as it shrunk to the size of a pea and twinkled out of the atmosphere. Her heart dropped, and she gave a sad wave goodbye to the ship.

Looking towards her right, she stared at her father for affirmation that everything was going to be okay. He caught her gaze, and smiled warmly, but not before she saw a glimpse of his eyes becoming misty.

Her heart dropped. Even her _father_ , the sturdy sage of green eco, was despondent at Jak's departure. Before she could stop herself, she felt a lump form in her throat, and her bottom lip begin to tremble. Not wanting to kill the positive vibe that had erupted from the crowd of Spargus citizens in support of their hero, she decided to make a disappearance where she could soother her acheing heart in peace.

She turned away hastily and pivoted on her heel, ready to make a break for her room within the palace when she heard a noisy chatter from below. It was subtle, but a squawk from Pecker a moment later alerted her, ears twitching. Her feet stuck to the stone so fast it was like she was carved into the palace itself.

 _Could it be…?_

The lump in her throat immediately disappeared, and her heart began beating so profusely she could swear her blood had been replaced with little fish swimming along her veins and a butterfly fluttering where her soul should be. Keira's face lifted, and her eyes widened in shock. Her legs became wobbly with the hope that when she looked down, she would see what she thought she was hearing…

She dashed quickly back to the palace balcony and saw miraculously, that somehow against all odds, against everything she had thought only moments ago, a fluffy bunch of soft blonde hair was bobbing right next to a blob of orange fur. It was how everything should be – Jak, the brave hero, was standing right beside Daxter, the witty sidekick; all it was missing was their sassy intelligent mechanic. Nostalgia surged through her at seeing her two best buddies reunited again, standing next to each other, and she raced to the edge of the balcony to go join them to complete the ultimate trio that they were all together.

Keira had bolted to the elevator to the right of the Spargus throne, internally restless that the mechanical contraption couldn't go fast enough. In her excitement as she made her gentle descent down, she stood on her toes and waved high above her head to try and get Jak's attention. He was in the middle of embracing Daxter, but when he turned around, he didn't look up to see where his mentor and his childhood best friend were.

Keira was on his right, but instead, he was turning…left…

Puzzled, Keira glanced over, wondering who could be more important to greet first over his own family.

After squinting to adjust to the changing light as she moved from high to low on the shaky platform, she peered over to see that it was…

Ashelin...?

Keira's heart sank into her stomach.

 _It was Ashelin._

Time seemed to slow to a stop, and Keira's jaw dropped open in shock. Jak was sauntering over to the red head, a triumphant smirk on his face. Ashelin was grinning smugly, and Keira could swear that she saw her wink in Keira's direction. Looking around quickly to see if it could possibly be anyone else, she realized that the only other audience to receive that wink was the stone outcropping at her back. Taken aback at Ashelin's boldness, she gaped at the baroness who had just gone out of her way to make sure Keira knew she was marking her territory; like a predator, she was marking her prey – and the bitter ice blizzard that was erupting from her sharp green eyes pierced icicles into Keira's own blue orbs. And she knew what message she was trying to send with them –

 _Jak is mine._

Even from a distance, Keira could hear Ashelin seductively murmur, "Welcome back, tough guy." As she affectionately touched Jak's shoulder. But Keira knew that that touch wasn't for him; it was for her to see, so that Ashelin could cement any confusion Keira had about their relationship. And oh boy, was she ever crystal _fucking_ clear on their affairs together right now.

"Hey! Keira! Isn't it great that Jak is back?" Daxter beamed up at her, giving her that famous goofy grin of his.

Refusing to see their embrace, and Mar knows what else what after all the rumours she had heard (not that she had believed them until just now), she gruffly walked the opposite direction from the two apparent love birds. "Yeah, it's just perfect." Keira seethed. She grit her teeth, balled up her fists, and promptly turned right sharply in to the tunnels beneath the balcony.

"What's her problem?" Daxter commented to Tess, thumbing towards his grumpy turquoised-headed friend while looking vaguely annoyed. Tess shrugged, but looked on in concern.

Keira stormed off, practically causing seismic activity in her wake - her footsteps could have split continents with their force.

Huffing and puffing to her room door, finally finding it among the maze of the palace corridors that was her new home, she slammed the door behind her. Smashing a fist against the wall, she growled and flopped onto her bed; steam erupting from her slender ears from fuming so hard.

 _Ashelin._ She sputtered and boiled.

 _That. Bitch._


	2. Chapter 2

Keira flopped angrily onto her bed, breathing heavily to try and control her rage. She had never felt so angry; and she wasn't truly sure why she did in the first place. Was it jealousy, or envy – or both? Or was it something else entirely? Emotions weren't her strong suit – logic, analysis, problem solving… those were things she could deal with. Not petty feelings like the ones residing in her heart or unthinkable plans of revenge swarming in her brain; this was without a doubt what Daxter commonly referred to as "girl drama" – and she had no experience with it. No point of reference, no books to read or any experiments to perform to gain experience and knowledge. And it annoyed the _hell_ out of her.

She had never liked Ashelin to begin with so that was a bad place to start, but seeing some strange red head get all that attention from Jak when he couldn't even be bothered to give his life-long friend a simple farewell made something inside her snap. Her brain felt like a circuit board where the wire leading to her rational thought unit had been disconnected, and a virus of anger had begun infecting all other routes of thinking. Keira's brain was completely scrambled, and with no other option left she let loose a muffled scream into her pillow out of frustration. For once in her life, she didn't have control over a situation. The only thing she could control right now was what volume her shriek was being blasted through the fabric below her.

A few moments later, there was a gentle _pat pat pat_ at the door that Keira's ears almost hadn't picked up. It had sounded like a knock, but it was so quiet she ignored it. It came again, and again, becoming more persistent and growing increasingly louder.

"Keira….?" A small squeak came from below the frame.

Keira unburied her face from the pillow in front of her, and turned towards the wooden slab that was her only barrier between her broken heart and the world that had broken it. Sighing, she curled up and folded her ears over, pretending not to hear whoever was there.

The knocking kept going, and Keira kept ignoring it until finally she couldn't bear it any more. Smooshing her head back into her pillow, Keira mumbled, "Go away." The knocking ceased.

A few seconds later, the door frame shifted and creaked open slightly. A tiny orange paw poked through cautiously. "It's me;" a soft voice spoke.

A small orange fuzz ball stepped forward precariously into the room when Keira gave no response, "Sweetie, I know you can hear me…"

A lightning fast pitter-patter swept across the room until it had reached Keira's bed frame; a few thuds from landing heavily on her feet and a few grunts later from struggling to climb the only thing she could get a grip on, Tess huffed, "Hun I know you're pretending I don't exist right now, but can I get a little help?" Tess's fuzzy paws were slipping off the bed as she clawed furiously to climb the few feet that would have been no problem to get to a moment ago if she were still human, until she squeaked loudly as she ran out of blanket and brought all the bedding down with her.

Keira was so distraught she had completely forgot that Tess had been changed to an ottsel.

"Oh!" Keira immediately snapped out of her gloomy haze and scooped up Tess in mid-air before she was consumed by the large mound of sheets and blanket.

As they crumpled to the floor with a soft _phoof_ , Keira had clasped her fingers around Tess in such a way that she had one hand clamped on her bottom and the other wound around her chest. Tess blushed intensely at the awkwardly intimate situation, and her face grew a few shades oranger. Keira giggled nervously upon realizing what tender areas she was grasping, and using both hands, lowered Tess on to the mattress in front of her.

"Sorry!" She sputtered, "I didn't mean –"

Tess waved a paw as she laughed it off. "It's fine, nothing you haven't seen before right darlin'? And nothing you won't see again – if you play your cards right!" She winked.

Keira chuckled lightly at her antics, reminded of how alike Tess really was to Daxter. It was probably why they got along so well in the first place, and how they had managed to keep their relationship going strong even though they both had such coquettish personalities.

The curvy ottsel flipped herself around, taking her time trying to get used to her body's new center of gravity. She teetered and tottered in her attempt to stand upright before losing her balance and flopping onto her bottom, legs splayed open. Deciding against another attempt at standing, her ears perked up intently as she gave her full attention to Keira, her yellow-orange tail flickering like a flag in the breeze behind her.

Still blushing a bit, Keira shifted to sit in a similar cross legged position. She flicked a stray turquoise strand away from her eyes as she quickly wiped her tears of frustration from them.

"I just… I can't believe, that after everything we've been through, and after everything I've done… he didn't even say goodbye." Keira said with a miserable tone.

Tess only nodded.

Keira stifled a sad sniffle, and leaned her pouty face heavily into her balled up fists.

"I guess I just…" Her voice broke, and she coughed quickly to cover it up, giving her head a shake to build her internal strength. "I stupidly thought once we all reunited, things would go back to normal…I never thought he'd change so much; that _I'd_ change so much…I really thought everything was going to be perfect once we all found each other again."

"I know, sweetie; I'm sorry…" Tess purred, placing a soft paw upon Keira's knee to comfort her. Keira unfurled one hand, and gave Tess a scratch behind her ears. She smiled down at her now very small, very fuzzy, and very orange friend – no matter how she looked now, Keira was glad to have a friend who understood her. Tess had an untrue reputation of being the "dumb blonde" of the group because of her bubbly personality and looks (which were instrumental in the take down of Krew, the Baron, and Kor through her detailed intel, but nobody bothered to remember that), but Keira had come to know Tess as one of the sweetest and compassionate people that she had met in all of Haven. And in the harsher environment of the Wasteland where their motto was "kill or be killed", she was comparatively even sweeter still.

And a considerate listener was exactly who she needed right now, because Keira had just had a resurgence of a maelstrom of her newfound fury towards a certain red head.

"And everything _would_ have been perfect, if he hadn't met that, that…that _tramp!_ " Her temper exploded unbridled from her again.


	3. Chapter 3

Keira stood abruptly and jostled Tess around a bit as the mattress adjusted its form to account for the shift in weight. The small animal yelped in surprise as she almost got caught up in the tempest that was Keira's hair, which she could _swear_ was swirling around her head like a hurricane, her ends static-y with her charged emotions.

Tess could only respond with a sigh – _Keira really was new to this whole drama thing._ Daxter wasn't kidding when he said Keira wasn't so good at dealing with emotions… It was interesting to see a girl who was consistent in her expressions and mannerisms flip out like this, to say the least.

The now hot-headed mechanic furled her brow and crossed her arms in defiance of the fact that the Captain of the Krimzon guards was now on her mind. Without even giving Tess context, she leaped into conversation and sputtered, "It's crazy!"

Her hands waved wildly around her head and she threw them up in exasperation, and then flung them about her torso wildly as she continued to spill her entire brains contents on the subject unfiltered.

"Does he want to date her?! I mean, he killed her _father_ , for Mar's sake; there's no bad blood, just like that? She isn't trying to _kill_ him?"

Keira was laughing almost maniacally at this point. "You know a guy for 14 years, suddenly you get thrown through a warp pad after you save the world together, and two years later he's forgotten all about you and has some half-naked Baroness hanging off his arm?"

Tess cleared her throat, "Uh, I don't want to seem pushy, but weren't you seeing Erol at some point…? The Barons Commander of the Krimzon guards…? Who had the same position as Ashelin?"

Keira's face went red. "Uhm… sort of, I guess; it's really complicated, but…"

Tess side eyed her. Keira's face suddenly had stark contrast as the colour drained from her face and went pale white. "It wasn't like that." She went quiet. She didn't want to talk about Erol; not after what he did to her, and especially not after what he did to Jak.

Tess stopped abruptly, instantly catching her meaning. "Oh. I'm sorry…"

A moment of eerie silence passed before Tess spoke up again, "We all had to do what we needed to to survive during the war; Jak being friends with Ashelin is just the same."

Tess moved towards the edge of the bed, letting her feet dangle as Keira paced agitatedly in front of her.

"Sweetie… I know you're upset. I don't really know all the details, but it sounds like both of you did what you could to survive."

Keira nodded and breathed heavily to calm herself; that made sense. It wasn't like she _wanted_ to see Erol, but under the circumstances, she wasn't really given a choice; perhaps the same thing had happened to Jak. She actually wasn't sure - they hadn't really been able to catch up since he was thrust into his new position of Spargus royalty and then almost went away to save other worlds with the Precursors. It's not like they had much time to chat in between saving Haven city and the universe… _again._

Tess flicked a short blonde tendril out of her eyes, and moved her hands as she spoke. "Look, you do the whole logic thing right? Ashelin's the Baronness of the City, and leader of the Krimzon Guards – politically there's no stronger ally to have than her."

Keira began quelling the anger inside of her as she began piecing this new information together like a puzzle. She placed her fingers on her lips thoughtfully as she listened to Tess speak.

"Not to mention she kicks ass in combat, there's no denying that!"

Her facial expression lost its friendliness and became serious for a moment, "But Ashelin's my _friend_ too – she's strong in lots of different ways. We both were both in the Underground and just fought a war so we can have a thick skin with your criticism, but there's a lot you don't understand about her. She's fun to be around sometimes, believe it or not. So it's, well…"

"…Kind of ridiculous that this feud is all over a boy?" Keira finished, her shoulders dropping and her ears drooping.

Tess smirked. "Yes, sweetie. You guys are being petty over a boy - And calling her names isn't going to get you anywhere."

Keira's heart sunk at the realization that Tess was right. She was acting childish. She was completely hating Ashelin for a situation she didn't understand, and was likely taking all of her actions out of context too. Keira had only been here for 2 years – Ashelin had lived here her whole life. Ashelin would never understand growing up in Sandover, just like Keira would never understand what Ashelin had to go through growing up as a resistance leader inside of a palace owned by the guy you were trying to take down – who also happened to be your father. Things were a lot more complicated than all the assumptions she had made.

And she had to admit; Ashelin didn't have it easy. Everyone _knew_ who she was, but not everyone _knew_ her. She battled with those assumptions made about her every day, and still managed to get into a position of respect and authority and prove everyone wrong. And now that Tess was bringing that up, Keira was starting to re-evaluate her thoughts and actions towards the red head. She was actually beginning to _admire_ Ashelin; just a little bit…

Tess let Keira have a moment alone with her thoughts so that it could all sink in and process. " _This girl can really be a robot sometimes,_ "Tess pondered - and yet she was just as passionate as any other normal human being. Too passionate about some things though; "And Keira, it's not going to help your situation with Jak, either…" The small blonde chimed in, knowing she would strike a chord with Keira.

And she did – and it was really hard to swallow. A lump formed in Keira's throat as she considered all the mistakes she had made, trying to reflect on what the reality of the situation was.

In Sandover, Keira was the genius child – she was the best at everything she did. And she guessed that since coming to Haven, she discovered she wasn't truly that special. She couldn't fight like Ashelin did – but in Sandover, she didn't have to. She was the brilliant mechanic, Jak was the hero, and Daxter was the side kick. Simple and efficient, and it worked well together. But here in Haven, and the Wasteland, everyone had flexible positions – Vin was just as smart; well… if she was being honest, probably a whole lot smarter, than she was. Tess was a whiz at gun technology. Torn and Sig fought just as hard and as skilled as Jak. Ashelin had just as much political knowledge and skill with strategic planning as her father Samos did. Jinx was just as much as a wise-guy as Daxter was.

Ever since she had come to the future, everyone was better than her, and she was expendable. She wasn't as talented as she assumed she was. And to see other people admire Jak for his talents other than her was a bit frustrating. Not because he didn't deserve the recognition, but because it made her feel good to know she was the one making him special. And… that was selfish of her. She hated to admit it, but it was.

If Ashelin was really as close to Jak as she seemed, then it wasn't a good idea to be making enemies with her. If he really liked her, then she… she need to respect that. She couldn't meddle in his life – hadn't the Baron done enough of that anyways? Jak needed to make his own decisions, and enjoy his life without all of the destiny stuff in the way. Just because she still had a crush on him didn't mean she owned him; and she didn't want to.

Two years of being passed around by the Baron, the Underground, and then the Wasteland was enough – he didn't need to come home to a jealous, whiny friend as part of his victory celebration.

The gravity of her skewed thought process seemed to slap her right in the face – and she realized what a bad friend she had been, and what a bad person she was being. The weight of her guilt instantaneously crushed her, and she burst into tears.


	4. Chapter 4

Tess hopped off the bed and waddled over to Keira's leg and swiftly crawled up her waist to sit on her shoulder in true ottsel-style. After a few helpful tugs from Keira she finally made it. Flipping her hair out of her eyes and adjusting her crooked headband, she said, "Can I tell you a secret?"

Keira nodded slowly, tears streaming down her face.

Tess felt bad about divulging Ashelin's personal life secrets to someone who hated her, but her heart was swelling with compassion after seeing that Keira obviously had a change of heart, and realizing that her hate was misguided. Keira wasn't inherently a malicious person…she just got mixed up some times. Tess knew that.

So she stroked Keira's hair and wiped a tear away before saying, "After the Metal Head war, things were going great between Ashelin and Torn. But as soon as Veger came into the picture, Ashelin got swept up in to all the politics stuff while Torn got swamped with Underground work. Trying to lead a rebellion against the city behind its own back doesn't leave much time for romance," she chuckled.

Tess shook her head and continued, "They kind of had a falling out – Torn was too focused on work, and let's be honest Keira, he was pretty closed off emotionally too."

That much was true – Keira hardly knew anything about Torn, aside from the fact that he existed.

"I've been talking with Ash, and well… she's kind of torn up about it. No pun intended." She quickly added, but Keira was already giggling.

Smiling at each other Tess continued. "Ash doesn't take any shit from any one – so she dropped Torn and moved on to someone who was more available. And Jak was, since their missions often overlapped. Torn is a more behind the scenes guy like you and me; Jak and Ashelin are out on the front lines. You really have to trust someone out there to have your back to survive. They grew close out of necessity, and availability."

It dawned on Keira that Tess was right. Just because the old Jak she knew wouldn't have done the things he did, doesn't mean that the "new" Jak wouldn't. He didn't exactly have the luxury of choosing his company; nobody did in this world. She certainly didn't – so she was beginning to understand the fundamentals of their relationship to each other a bit more.

Keira nodded in agreement. "You're right Tess; you're right. I've been acting like he's head-over-heels for her, and like he doesn't care about me at all. For someone as intelligent and rational as I am, I really jumped to conclusions."

"Hey, you said it, not me!" Tess laughed and her eyes twinkled.

"Besides - I don't want to get your hopes up, but it can't be long now before Torn and Ash reconcile. Now that all this Dark Maker stuff is over, they won't have as much work to do - hopefully anyways." She rolled her eyes, knowing that their work was never truly finished.

"Ever since Torn joined the Krimzon Guard a few years back and quickly climbed the ranks, Ashelin has always had a weird thing for him. And him leaving to form the Underground was just the cherry on top!"

Keira raised an eyebrow, "Why's that?"

Tess gave Keira a sly grin. "Ashelin is attracted to mettle – here in Haven, well, and especially in the Wastelands now - " she glanced over to the window, forgetting that the bleak grey city skyline she was used to was replaced with wild beige expanse with winds that whipped sand as far as the eye could see, "- flexibility, strength, and resilience are valued. Both Jak and Torn have that; but her backgrounds and emotions towards both of them are different."

Tess stifled a yawn as she realized she had been chatting Keira's ear off – literally – for probably close to an hour now. "Look hun, I could talk about this all day, but the fact of the matter is that regardless of how you feel about Ashelin, Jak is really going through a lot right now – the best you can do is to be there for him."

Keira tucked her hair behind her ear and twiddled with her fingers. "Yeah…"

"And you can't control what's going to happen in the future; you can't control everyone else's actions. You can only control how you respond to them." The blonde ottsel tilted her head and raised her eyebrows in an all-knowing way.

Keira wiped the last of her tears away and rubbed them off on her purple pant leg before scoffing.

"…What was I thinking? I've been really… really awful to Jak, and, to Ashelin," she shuddered a bit – clearly she still had to resolve her feelings about them still - "I'm not… I'm not good at accepting change." She admitted.

Tess nodded, having dealt with her fair share of emotional turmoil as well. Keira laughed and turned to her friend sitting on her shoulder.

"You're really smart Tess, you know that?" Her cerulean blue eyes shone with her appreciation.

Tess started laughing loudly before explaining after seeing Keira's confused reaction, "You know, it's funny – the only reason why I know what to say about all of this is because it happened to me!"

Keira pursed her lips in confusion.

"When Torn formed the Underground and chose me as his right hand woman, Ashelin was just as jealous of me as you are of her!" Tess began cackling at the irony, slapping her knee in disbelief of the role reversal.

Keira's eyes widened in shock, and she recoiled so fast at the surprising information that she almost sent Tess flying off of her shoulder. She instinctively grabbed on to Keira's ear to stay standing which resulted in a sharp yelp from the blue-haired girl. After quick apologies and steadying herself once again, Tess giggled and assured Keira, "You're not the only person to go through this, okay…?"

Keira returned Tess's warm smile. "I guess… I guess I was caring for Jak in the wrong way."

Tess nodded and continued with sincerity, "As far as your feelings go, you can't wait around for him forever. This is just me being real with you; we deal with hard truths around here, which I know you're not used to…"

"No, it's fine." Keira chuckled lightly and waved a hand. "I'll never get to go back to Sandover, so the sooner I learn to accept that this is my new home now, the better."

Tess offered Keira a sympathetic smile before continuing, "He will make his own decisions, and if you're a part of that, great; if not, also great! Because you deserve someone who loves you just as much as you love them!" Tess hugged Keira's cheek affectionately.

She leapt back down onto the bed and pointed her orange paw towards the door. "Now go talk to him – decide for yourself what's going on, and stop making up all these crazy stories in your head!"

Keira's facial expression showed she was shocked at her bubbly friend's confidence and boldness, but it quickly changed to a smiling expression. She beamed and said, "You're right Tess, like you have been this whole conversation. Thank you so much for coming to find me - I'm going to go talk to Jak."

And with that she bounded out of the room, leaving the orange ottsel behind, on the bed, arms folded across her chest with pride. Going to take a step off the bed, Tess forgot she had a much tinier body once again and quickly retracted her foot from the impending peril below her. Realizing she might be stranded here for quite some time, she mused out loud,

"Now how am I going to get down from here…"


End file.
